


Hard to Say I'm Sorry

by SummerRaine14



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst without a happy ending, Betty ends up alone, Betty made her bed and lies in it, Canon Compliant, F/M, Jughead Jones Deserves Better, Jughead does NOT forgive, Not A Happy Ending, Truth hurts, post 4x17, someone give Jughead a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23763610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRaine14/pseuds/SummerRaine14
Summary: “After all that we've been throughI will make it up to you, I promise toAnd after all that's been said and doneYou're just a part of me, I can't let go” - Chicago--OR--A one-shot in which Betty realizes she made a huge mistake and tries to right her wrongs.
Relationships: Barchie (mentioned), Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Varchie (mentioned) - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	Hard to Say I'm Sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, my fellow Buggies, 
> 
> This last episode was a hard one, to say the least, and after almost a year out of writing fanfiction, I felt like it was the only way to get my feelings across about what happened. Please keep in mind that this does NOT have a happy ending for Bughead, so if that's what you're looking for, it is not here. 
> 
> A huge thank you to @shrugheadjonesthethird and @CactiEvie for being my betas! This would not be what it is without your help.

It had been two days and Betty still couldn’t fall asleep. Two days since she made a mistake in the bedroom where she shared her first kiss with the boy she loved. Two days since she tainted any memories they had in this room with the aching regret of kissing another boy. Two days since she did the one thing that could turn her closest friendships into shambles and destroy bonds most people only dreamed of finding. Two days since she did something she will never be able to take back. 

It made her stomach wretch with guilt, countless trips to the bathroom every time she remembered what she’d done, the burn of acid in her throat was enough to have her in tears. Everyone around her knew something was wrong, but only one person knew exactly what it was. 

She agreed to meet Archie alone at the bunker, in hopes of trying to make sense of why they’d done what they did. But all that came from it was him ignoring the problem at hand, pulling out his guitar and singing her a song, as if that fixed anything. 

This wasn’t some romantic movie where they got a happy ending, she wasn’t going to end things with Jughead just because Archie tried to woo her with lyrics that he’d probably written about Veronica. _Oh God, Veronica. My best friend._ Betty cried again at the thought, running to the toilet once more. Veronica was her best friend and what did she do to prove that? Kiss her boyfriend. What kind of friend did that?

Betty said it to Ethel herself almost a year ago, when she tried to get with Jughead. 

_“Real friends don’t kiss each other’s boyfriends.”_

Now Betty had become the epitome of what she hated. Betty was the very thing she despised and all that was left to do was come clean about her indiscretions. She lived with Jughead for God’s sake, they were together and he was who she came home to. He was the one who’d been there through it all, and how did she repay him? By kissing the boy next door that he’d been insecure about their entire lives. He had asked her if she had any old feelings resurface, and she looked him in the eyes as she said no. There was a time when he looked her in the eyes and told her she was slumming it with him until Archie finally came around. No matter how wrong she knew he was, she knew exactly how this looked. Betty promised Jughead that he was the only one for her, but she did this. 

_How could I do this to him?_

It didn’t matter what was happening in his own life, Jughead had always put his relationship with Betty first. He cared about her and he protected her. They’d promised each other that their futures would be spent together no matter what, but how could they come back from this? How could they come back from this when he didn’t even know what she’d done? 

Betty had gone to the bunker with Archie again, and as the two of them laid on the bed that she’d shared with Jughead many times before, a whole new wave of guilt washed over her. He had reached for her hand while they laid there, and after a few seconds, she realized what she was doing. She told him she couldn’t do this, that _they_ couldn’t do this to themselves, or Veronica and Jughead. Immediately after pulling away, Betty got up from the bed and left, heading for the direction of her home on Elm Street. 

When she got home, Jughead was upstairs working on his essay. She was crying before he even knew she was there. He looked up from his laptop and smiled until he noticed her tears. 

“Betty? What’s wrong, did something happen?” 

The way Jughead immediately feared for her safety broke her heart even more. This wasn’t just about what she’d done, this was about what she’d done to _him._ Jughead had the kindest heart she’d ever known, despite the world being so cruel to him. He loved so selflessly, he loved _her_ so selflessly. 

Jughead’s hands were holding her face as his thumb caressed her cheeks, trying to wipe away her tears. He was looking at her with so much love, and she couldn’t stand it. 

“I’m sorry, Jug. I’m so sorry.” 

She could tell instantly he knew, as their eyes met. She thought maybe there was a change that he didn’t know exactly what had happened, but as he pulled away from her hug, the look in his eyes changed and she could tell that he knew. 

“Betty- No. No.” Jughead’s voice cracked as he spoke, he didn’t want to believe what he was thinking but there was nothing else that made sense. “Tell me you didn’t.” 

She reached out to him, desperately wanting to hold onto him. “Jug, I’m sorry. It was a mistake, a stupid, _stupid_ mistake.” 

“A _mistake_? Who was it?” He knew, in his heart he knew, but he needed to hear her say it. 

“Please, don’t make me-.”

“Who was it, Betty?” He wasn’t angry, his voice didn’t get louder, he wasn’t going to yell at her. He just needed to hear it from her mouth before he decided what was next. He needed her to admit what she’d done to them. 

Betty looked down, her hands clenched into fists as tears rolled down her swollen cheeks. “Archie.” 

“Right.” Jughead merely nodded his head, choking out an empty chuckle while pushing back his tears as he went to leave their room. 

He was stopped by Betty grabbing his arm, looking at him with sadness in her eyes. _I wish I hadn’t known a love like yours._ It was all he could keep repeating in his mind, because maybe if he hadn’t known what it felt like to be loved so completely, then this wouldn’t hurt as much as it did. Jughead pulled from her grip and left the house, getting on his motorcycle and driving away without so much as looking back. 

He needed to clear his head. He needed to get away from her and all of their memories, which at this point felt impossible. The entire town was tattooed with memories of them, late nights in the booths at Pop’s diner, their walks down the streets during the night when they couldn’t sleep, all the times she sat on the back of this very bike and wrapped her arms around him. _How could this happen?_ They had been through so much together and in a time when he felt like they were finally so strong, she did this. 

Years of insecurities come back to him in an instant with such few words. Years of feelings he’d thought were dead and buried, now resurrected and drowning his every thought. He had trusted her, both of them, with everything he had. His best friends, the ones who had been by his side since they were children, and this was what they did to him. It didn’t matter what their reason was, nothing was ever going to be the same. 

Jughead drove until his body couldn’t stay upright anymore; he didn’t know where he was. All he knew was that he’d left Riverdale miles ago. He was surrounded by open roads, trees that stretched on for miles and nothing that could tell him exactly where he was, not a road sign or mile marker was anywhere to be found. He parked his motorcycle on the side of the road and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had missed calls and unread text messages, all from Betty save for two calls from Archie. 

He scoffed when he saw Archie’s name, his so-called best friend probably calling just to save his ass. For a minute, Jughead wondered if Veronica knew and if she didn’t, he thought he should tell her. But then he considered how he would have felt if she had told him and had not heard it from Betty herself, how it would have hurt so much more. While he knew Veronica deserved the truth, he also knew that she deserved to hear it from Archie or Betty. Not him. 

Against his better judgment, Jughead checked his voice messages from Betty. 

_“Jug, call me when you can. I want to talk about this.”_

_“Can you answer me? We need to talk.”_

_“It’s me again, please call me. I’m worried about you.”_

_“Jug, please just send me something so I know you’re okay.”_

_“Jughead, I will make this up to you. I promise. I will fix this.”_

It was the last one that made him scoff. _How could she fix this?_ There was nothing that Betty could do to make any of this better. She cemented that the second she kissed Archie. 

This all felt like some ridiculous joke and he was waiting for the punchline, for someone to tell him that it hadn’t really happened. He took a deep breath and read through Betty’s text messages, saying the same things that were in her voicemails. He read them over, tears coming back to his eyes as he typed his reply.

_There’s nothing you can do to fix this, Betty._

He sighed and turned his phone off, slipping it back into his pocket. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who did read, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you thought!


End file.
